Month: September 2016

Hello everyone! Just a quick update. I have just been elected as one of three Jakarta Sister City ambassadors. I’ll be touring to one of Jakarta’s sister cities to promote the concept of a future city of Jakarta that emphasises three main aspects: smart, ecological, and cultural. My first stop is… BEIJING! So I’m probably going to be refraining from Facebook or blogging for the next few months. However, I’m also planning to make video updates so stay tuned! I love you!! –Deny

As someone who was born in the early 90s, I had the privilege of growing up when technology hadn’t yet taken over. It was the time when we spent most of our childhood years playing outside, dancing in the rain, and engaging with nature. I still can recall how life was like before the internet, or when the internet already existed but dial-up was the only option. Back then carrying floppy disk was a sign of being tech savvy and the paper fortune could predict someone’s future.

Back in the 90s, TV shows were the ultimate crème de la crème. Programmes like Sesame Street/The Muppet Show and The Land Before Time had filled my childhood days with laughter and joy. On the 219th episode of The Muppet Show, Kermit the Frog sang a classic song called It’s Not That Easy Being Green. The song talks about accepting yourself for who you are. In the song, Kermit expresses his ambivalence about his colour, noting that green “blends in with so many other ordinary things” and wishing that he were some other colour instead. During the bridge, Kermit realises that there are some powerful associations with the colour—“green can be big, like an ocean, or important, like a mountain, or tall like a tree.” In the end, he decides that he’s happy to be green—“it’s beautiful, and I think it’s what I want to be.”

If you know me personally, you’ll most likely know green is my favourite colour. Green the most common colour in the natural world, which represents freshness, growth, and harmony. I’m happy to be green, though it’s not that easy sometimes. Continue reading “It’s not that easy being green”→

“Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

About 30 months ago I decided to leave the university. First, my best friend committed suicide and it ruined everything. Second, I was very unhappy with it because I didn’t have a passion for what I was studying. Long before I went to uni, I always knew it really wasn’t for me. Continue reading “I chose to travel”→

A few weeks ago a student came to me and asked genuinely, “Teacher Deny, why do you write so often? Aren’t there better things to do?” It wasn’t the first time I got asked that question, yet I still can’t figure out a short answer. So, for the sake of writing, these are the three main reasons why I write and how it helps me become a better person. Continue reading “Shut up and write”→

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